


Forms of Paradise

by thejillyfish



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Beach Volleyball, Boys Kissing, Day At The Beach, Established Relationship, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Public Display of Affection, Slightly Jealous!Shizuo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2014-12-16
Packaged: 2018-03-01 19:43:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2785412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thejillyfish/pseuds/thejillyfish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Izaya takes extra caution against his biggest enemy: The Sun. Only after Shizuo convinces him to shed his protective layers does Izaya agree to do "The Whole Beach Thing."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forms of Paradise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bunnybreath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnybreath/gifts).



> I've always wanted to write a beach episode! And now I got to because my lovely and beautiful mistress requested Izaya getting a sunburn for a birthday present!! Rather cruel, but I won't complain. It's not my skin.
> 
> So here it is, 5.7k words of pure shizaya banter and fluff. And I get to share it with all of you!
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LORELAICCHI (❁´◡`❁)(❁´◡`❁)(❁´◡`❁)!!
> 
>  **NOTE:**  
>  JSL = Japanese Sign Language. There's nothing in the canon to suggest that either Celty or Izaya know JSL, but I like to imagine Celty taught herself sign language before cell phones existed, and Izaya was the only one that taught himself the language when a headless person became a part of his life. And I like to imagine them signing secret messages to each other.

“Will you take that damn thing off already?”

Sunshine bounced off the beach umbrella and into Shizuo’s eyes, causing him to squint. The umbrella created a vast patch of shade over a large blanket, on which was littered soda cans and bags of chips already. Beach bags and towels surrounded it, but all the owners were currently away. All, that is, except for one.

Izaya looked up from his thick novel and peered over his dark sunglasses up at Shizuo.

“Says the guy rockin’ a Hawaiian shirt,” countered Izaya.

Shizuo looked down at the colorful and heavily floral-patterned shirt that was left unbuttoned over his torso. There were pineapples and parrots to go along with the red, orange, and yellow, which matched his swimsuit of the same pallette.

“Celty said it looked good!” Honestly, Izaya didn’t know what he was talking about, because Shizuo knew he looked cool.

“Either she was lying to be nice or has the same awful fashion sense as you. You can’t really trust someone from the 1800s for fashion advice, ya know. Especially one that’s dating Shinra.” Izaya reached into a container of grapes and plucked one off the vine, then popped it into his mouth. Sounded like a crunchy grape. “If you had asked me, I would have honestly told you how lame it looked.”

“That’s why I _didn’t_ ask you!” snapped Shizuo, but he ended up yanking the shirt off his body and chucking it at Izaya’s face. “Can _you_ really talk when you’re wearing a black, furry parka on a _beach_?”

Currently, Izaya wore a turquoise bathing suit and a white t-shirt, over which he donned his infamous black jacket. This was all despite the fact that it was a perfectly steamy summer day to spend at the beach. In the ocean. Under the sun… Not on a blanket and under an umbrella that if looked at from above would resemble the inside of a watermelon.

He looked even more like a weirdo than he did on the streets of Tokyo, Shizuo thought.

“But I have an excuse!” Izaya pulled the hawaiian shirt off his face. “If I take this off and go out there I will _burn_ to death. Is that what you want?”

Shizuo decided not to answer right away. “Hmm…”

Izaya gasped. “ _Shizu-chan_ ,” he touched his chest in an exaggerated, scandalized gesture, “you’d let that happen to me?”

“Probably.”

“Hmph!” Izaya grabbed a handful of grapes and gave himself chipmunk cheeks with them, which only made his expression more petulant. “Not everyone has the luxury of skin that naturally tans.” He gave Shizuo a pointed look. “Some of us have to watch out for the sun if we don’t want to be fried into a crispy red crayfish.”

Shizuo crossed his arms and smirked. “So you like my skin when it’s tan? Is that why you wanted me to take off the shirt?”

Izaya responded by spitting a grape seed into the sand.

“Come on,” Shizuo nudged Izaya’s bum with his foot, and Izaya whined wordlessly. “We have sunscreen. Put some on and you’ll be fine.”

“Aren’t I fine under here?” Izaya grimaced, “I hate sunscreen. It’s sticky and makes my hands feel gross, and smells like babies.”

“How does it smell like babies?”

“Then it just gets worse when you go into the ocean,” Izaya continued fluidly, “there are all those sharp rocks that cut your feet, and you get all salty and the water tastes bad and stings your eyes. Fresh water is much more pleasant. In pools and fresh water, you don’t have to deal with getting sand everywhere. I don’t know how, but sand manages to get _everywhere_. Places I’d rather it not get into.”

“But those are the best parts of the beach,” Shizuo half-teased, half-griped.

Izaya gave him a wiry smile. “Well why don’t you go shove a seashell up your ass, then?”

“Come on, Izaya,” Shizuo pressed. “Who wears all that at the beach? You look dumb.”

“That’s rude, Shizu-chan! You can’t tell your boyfriend he looks dumb.”

Shizuo frowned. “You just said that to me about my shirt!”

Izaya shrugged and turned back to his book, unbothered. “Yeah, well that’s because that shirt was truly hideous. It’s not like my coat is ugly. I commend you for wearing something other than a bartender’s uniform to the beach, but - AHHH LET GO OF ME!”

Shizuo had grabbed Izaya’s ankle and had started dragging him towards the ocean. It was meant as a scare tactic, and Shizuo wasn’t _really_ going to dump Izaya into the sea. Maybe. Probably. “We didn’t come to the beach with people so that you could sulk in the shade like some kind of vampire!”

Izaya pelleted grapes against Shizuo’s nogan. “Shizu-chan!! The sand is getting in those places I was talking about!”

“Good! That’s the point of the beach!” Shizuo ignored the grapes and Izaya’s flailing limbs, kicking and whacking him in the legs and hips.

“Help!” Izaya shouted towards their company, “I’m gonna be drowned!!”

Unfortunately, everybody was either already playing in the ocean, or in a very heated game of beach volleyball. Everybody, which included Celty, Shinra, Kadota, Erika, Walker, and Togusa, of which nobody paid Izaya’s pleas for help any mind.

The day at the beach had actually been Celty’s idea. She had wanted to get out of the city and have a nice, relaxing, _normal_ day. Shizuo didn’t believe “normal” was possible for them, but he did enjoy the beach. Even though Izaya had fussed that he didn’t want to go, it had been up to him to find a beach secluded enough that there wouldn’t be tourists around to freak out at the sight of a headless woman. Surprisingly enough, he had actually found one. It was just meant to be the two couples: Celty and Shinra, Shizuo and Izaya. But Shooter couldn’t carry four people on him, and it’s not like any of them owned a car. There were also certain benefits to taking a large van to a beach. Hence, Kadota’s gang ended up going along for the ride.

A distant voice called out to the struggling pair, with no sympathy for Izaya’s predicament. “Shizu-chan! Come spike for us!!”

Down the beach a ways, Erika was waving at them with one hand, a volleyball in another. Her, Kadota, Walker, and Togusa were having a two on two game of beach volleyball game. Celty and Shinra were sitting in the shallow waves, further away.

Erika’s voice was enough of a distraction for Izaya to escape Shizuo’s clutches. He scrambled to his feet, but didn’t get far before Shizuo lifted him into his arms.

“What are you doing?!” Izaya’s trashed and twisted, all to which Shizuo was immune. “Let me go!! Help!!”

“A beach is a very inconvenient place for a fur coat, don’t you think,” said Shizuo matter-of-factly as he marched Izaya towards the crashing waves. “What’ll happen if it gets wet?”

“Shizu-chan _no_!” Pushing on Shizuo’s chest, Izaya tried to get away. The attempts at freedom were real, but there was a suppressed enthusiasm in Izaya’s voice. A few breaths of laughter escaped his lips between the his pleas. “Don’t you _dare_! Shizu-chan! I’ll kill you, for real!”

Shizuo walked into the ocean up to his knees. The water bit with coldness at first, but his body quickly got used to the temperature. He wondered how Izaya’s body would respond as he held the man over the waves. “Oh no, I hope I don’t drop you!”

Izaya’s eyes widened as he looked below, but his cheeks dimpled. “Dooon’t don’t don’t!” No longer was he trying to get away from Shizuo, but was clinging on desperately.

Shizuo hummed, pleased with himself. “If you took off the parka, you wouldn’t have to worry about it!”

“Don’t do it!!” Izaya said resiliently.

“Okay then,” said Shizuo. He thrusted his arms up and forward, pretending that he was going chuck Izaya in the ocean. His actions were convincing enough - or charming enough - that Izaya yelped and threw his arms around Shizuo’s neck.

“Fine!” cried Izaya, “I’ll do the beach thing!”

“The whole beach thing?” asked Shizuo, already smirking at his plan’s success.

“The whole beach thing,” said Izaya, and he glared at Shizuo reluctantly.

Shizuo released Izaya on dry land, where Izaya did away with the parka and left it with the rest of the camp. The white t-shirt followed, leaving the majority of Izaya’s pale skin to the mercy of the sun.

“Ugh, I can already feel it all prickly,” Izaya hugged his arms across his chest and shuddered.

“Stop acting like you’re delicate,” Shizuo huffed, since they both knew that was far from the truth. Sure, Izaya might have been a bit white, but he was also lean and dangerous. His vulnerable belle routine wasn’t doing him any favors. While Izaya moped, Shizuo went into one of the beach bags and pulled out a bottle of sunscreen.

“What’s the SPF?” Izaya asked, eyeing the bottle as if it were an enemy.

“Fifteen?” Shizuo pushed it into Izaya’s hands. “It’s all we have. Guess no one else is the kind of white sheet that you are.”

“Wrong!” Izaya sang as he lathered one of his arms in sunscreen anyways. “Celty is Irish. The Irish are renowned for their pale skin. Surely _she_ would have something stronger.”

“You should go into the water and ask her,” said Shizuo as he watched Izaya impatiently, “Besides, Celty can’t bring her PDA into the water, and you’re the only other person fluent in JSL that can translate what she’s saying. Shinra thought she might have said a purple lobster monster grabbed her foot, but I don’t think he got that right.”

“On second thought,” said Izaya, “would a supernatural creature need protection from the sun? Seems rather inconvenient. If I had magic, I would certainly use my vaguely defined shadow powers as sunblock. Wouldn’t you?”

“No.”

“Well, the sun takes to you very well, doesn’t it?” Izaya gave Shizuo a once over with a leer that made the latter blush.

With prolonged exposure to the sun, Shizuo did indeed grow browner. He couldn’t remember ever getting a sunburn, but his skin had the habit of soaking up the sun like it was a bronzer. Since Shizuo started dying his hair blond, the contrast between light and dark only magnified.

Making note of that, Izaya reached up and flipped a strand of Shizuo’s hair. Shizuo caught the pale wrist in his hand, drawing their bodies closer, and returned Izaya’s playful smirk.

“You hittin’ on me, flea?”

“On the contrary, I rather resent you,” Izaya tilted his head. “If you weren’t nice to look at in the sun, I’d be completely envious.”

“Better make sure you don’t miss any spots, then,” said Shizuo, nodding at the sunscreen. He dropped Izaya’s hand and turned away, ready to leave Izaya hanging.

This time, Izaya grabbed him instead. “But oh, Shizu-chan! How will I reach my back on my own?”

“We both know how flexible you are.”

They exchanged a knowing grin.

Izaya feigned fatigue. “Ah, the heat! I feel faint!” He collapsed against Shizuo, who caught him on instinct. “You’ll have to put it on for me.”

“You’re pathetic.” Shizuo gently pushed Izaya upwards and took the sunscreen from him. “Don’t fidget and I’ll make it quick.”

Such a request was impossible for Izaya to follow. It was like telling a cat ‘Hey, don’t sit on that.’ Naturally, Izaya rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, swinging his arms out and into his hips, and humming complacently as Shizuo slapped a gob of sunscreen on his back.

“So rough!” Izaya whined, but there was no bite to it. Just as Shizuo wasn’t really being that rough, and Izaya just liked to complain.

Despite his objections, Shizuo had no qualms spreading the lotion over Izaya’s skin. In fact, he quite enjoyed it. Applying the sunscreen didn’t take long enough, in Shizuo’s opinion. He made slow work of it, too, rubbing soft circles from Izaya’s shoulders to the bottom of his spine. The lower Shizuo got, the more Izaya squirmed under the touch. Eventually, they ended up sitting back on the blanket, under the umbrella, Izaya relaxing against Shizuo. By this point, Shizuo had no more sunscreen to spread or skin to cover. He was just massaging Izaya’s back for the sake of the sensation of smoothness under his palms.

There were red marks along Izaya’s shoulder blades and neck, remnants of where Shizuo had put his mouth on previous nights. Shizuo was sure if he examined himself, he’d have similar stains here or there. Neither ever made an effort of covering them up.

Pressing into the back’s hollow spaces, Shizuo’s hands caused Izaya to wriggle and choke on restrained giggles. It still surprised Shizuo how sensitive Izaya was in some places, and Shizuo could so easily get an entertaining reaction from him. Shizuo knew all the places that tickled Izaya, all the places that pleased him, every button on his body and what it did.

“ _Hey_ …!” Izaya rolled his shoulders and shook Shizuo’s fingers away from those spots. His voice had both reprimand and a chuckle in it. “You’re torturing me!”

“Am not,” said Shizuo, purposely pushing a point on Izaya’s spine that he knew would make Izaya gasp and arch his back.

“Are... too...!” That particular spot always turned Izaya to jelly.

After that, Shizuo eased up on the pressure points and brushed back the hair over Izaya’s nape, favoring to press his lips against Izaya’s neck. Izaya shuddered beneath him, leaning back against Shizuo’s chest. Abandoning his task on Izaya’s back, Shizuo wrapped his arms around the thin waist before him and drew Izaya closer. He kissed along Izaya’s accelerating pulse, to behind his ear, to under his jaw.

A soft breeze washed over them, one that had the delightfully salty aroma of the sea. Shizuo mourned that he didn’t live by the ocean everyday of his life, because the sun seemed to shine brighter here than it did in the city. Opposite of how Izaya felt, Shizuo liked sand beneath his barefeet and salt coarse on his skin. He liked the sound of the waves and seagulls, and he liked the glassy texture the sea took on where the sun reflected off its surface. Having Izaya in his arms, head tilted sideways languidly, inviting Shizuo’s lips’ path along his collar, and engaging Shizuo in a lazy, one-sided conversation of sweet nothings… That made the beach even more of a paradise, in Shizuo’s mind.

Except he had forgotten that they weren’t exactly alone.

_Thump!_

“WAH!”

_Thud!_

“KARISAWA! Are you okay?!”

Both Shizuo and Izaya turned their heads toward the sudden commotion. From the looks of it, Erika had received a volleyball in the head and got knocked to the ground. Kadota, Walker, and Togusa stood around her, concerned. Based on Togusa’s expression, he was the one guilty of sending the ball in her direction.

“I’m fine…” Still flat on her back, he looked more dreamy than damaged. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were glimmery.

“Something distracted her!” cried Walker, dumbfounded.

Izaya snickered at that, and even Shizuo had a guess to what had caught the poor girl’s attention.

“What happened?”

Two new shadows passed over Shizuo and Izaya. They looked up to see Shinra and Celty, soaking wet and dripping with seawater, scrutinizing the hoopla at the volleyball net. For a headless chick, Celty could sure work a black bikini well. Shinra, on the other hand, didn’t stop looking like a scrawny nerd when he put on a green and black striped bathing suit.

“Erika got hit with the volleyball,” explained Shizuo plainly.

“Because we’re gay,” Izaya added.

“That’s a funny reason to get hit with a volleyball!” Shinra piped with a light-hearted smile.

Celty wrapped a towel around herself and aimed a series of hand signals at Izaya, who waved an indifferent hand in front of his face.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” he said, and Celty signed something simple that Izaya shrugged off.

“Celtyyyy!” Shinra did what Shizuo could only describe as a jig of frustration. “It’s not fair when Izaya-kun’s the only one who can understand you!”

“You think so?” Izaya developed a mischievous sneer. His hands formed another range of messages, directed at Celty.

Whatever he said caused Celty’s head cloud to puff in aggravation, and she returned to him several heated signs. Then Izaya countered with gestures that to Shizuo looked rather rude, and Celty responded with equally impassioned signals. Even with no voice between them, the conversation had its way of being loud and obnoxious.

“Alright, you,” Shizuo captured Izaya’s hands to prevent any further silent communication, and he lifted Izaya up to his feet along with himself. “I haven’t even gotten wet yet!”

“ _Dirty_ ,” cooed Izaya at the same time that Shinra said “Gross.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

Celty, now with dry hands, finally pulled her PDA out of her beach bag.

[ **The water’s cold at first but then it’s really nice!** ]

“What did you two do if you couldn’t talk?” asked Shizuo. “Just float there in silence?”

Shinra’s eyelashes fluttered at Celty. “We don’t need words to communicate. Love is something you only need your bodies to express. Isn’t that right, Celty?”

The woman didn’t need a face to appear embarrassed. She waved her hands over each other in denial.

Izaya plugged his ears with his fingers and scowled. Then he grabbed Shizuo’s hand and marched them away from Shinra and Celty. “Come on, Shizu-chan. Let’s get you _wet_.”

“Stop it!!”

But Shizuo tagged along in Izaya’s wake, maneuvering his hand so that their fingers intertwined. He took two long strides and matched pace with Izaya, walking alongside him by the shore.

 

They walked where the sand was thick and wet, where the waves washed over their feet and ankles. Behind them, the sun was high in the sky and beat down on Shizuo’s back. The warmness mixed with the cool sea wind gave Shizuo goosebumps, but pleasantly so. He would have loved dive headfirst into the tall waves that curled into the Earth, but he was also enjoying a simple walk hand in hand with his boyfriend.

The beach was a part of a small cove, one that was tucked far away from civilization. They’d had to drive for hours before they reached the location, but Shizuo thought it was worth it. The place was quite beautiful, Shizuo thought, and perfectly peaceful. While the beach was short, there were plenty of rocks to climb and tide pools to roam. If they looked hard enough, they might have discovered a small cave or two.

However, such tranquility did not suit Izaya’s disposition. In Shizuo’s ideal world, they would have kept walking until no one could see them, and Shizuo would have continued to explore Izaya’s body with his mouth, all in the most romantic setting the world would probably every offer them.

Instead, though, Izaya stopped in their tracks to observe the only form of chaos taking place on that beach: the volleyball game.

Kadota swallowed a mouthful of sand as he dived to receive a decent spike from Walker. All was in vain, because Togusa failed to return the ball over the net. Getting up, Kadota spit the rest of the sand from his tongue. He noticed the couple watching them as he picked up the ball, and offered it to either of them.

“Volleyball should really be played three on three, shouldn’t it?” he said.

“Not really,” said Izaya snidely. “Professional beach volleyball has two members on a team, just like you’re playing now.”

“Yeah but,” Togusa put his hands on his hips and breathed heavily, worn out from his efforts on the court, “those guys don’t suck. We suck. Please help us.”

“Against the otakus?” Shizuo rose an eyebrow in disbelief.

“You judge,” said Kadota solemnly, “but you haven’t faced Karisawa’s jump serve. It’s killing us.”

Shizuo and Izaya glanced over at Erika and Walker, who both threw up peace signs.

“We read Haikyuu!!”

As if that explained everything.

“If Shizu-chan became our ace spiker, we’d be unstoppable!” exclaimed Erika.

“Hell no!” Togusa crossed his arms in an X. “No way am I receiving any spikes from Shizuo! If anyone gets Shizuo, it should be us since we’re losing!”

“Coward!” jeered Walker, and Erika backed him up with some chicken noises.

“Calm down, guys,” said Kadota as Togusa raised his fist threateningly towards them.

“I can be on someone’s team,” Izaya offered, though it was more of a cry for attention.

Either way, it made Shizuo chuckle. “You? What do you know about volleyball?”

Taken aback, Izaya withdrew the hand that been surprisingly still linked to Shizuo’s. “I just said the thing about beach volleyball, didn’t I?”

Shizuo knew better than that. “You read a Wikipedia article about volleyball, but can you actually _play_ volleyball?”

“Only one way to find out! Dotachin is talented in both offense and defense, yeah? I can make that work.”

“What’s that going off of? A few lessons in high school gym?”

“Shizu-chan you know me better than that! You know I never went to gym class.”

“Hah! See? You’ve probably never even held a volleyball!”

“Excuse me, but when did Shizu-chan become a member of the Olympic volleyball team?”

“I didn’t say I was!!”

“You’re sure talking big for a guy whose most athletic activities are throwing dumpsters to intimidate poor people.”

“And parkour makes you an expert?!”

Kadota, Togusa, Erika, and Walker, watched their exchange like a volley more expressive than any volleyball game they’d ever seen. So much for romantic walks along the beach. Izaya wasn’t the only one wired to ignite the most troublesome situations. They continued to smack talk each other until Kadota tried to play peacemaker.

“H-hey now!” Kadota rose his hands, “It’s not like we could ask you two to separate and play on separate teams anyways.”

“Oh we don’t mind!” said Shizuo, grinning manically and butting heads with Izaya.

“...You don’t?”

“Not at all,” said Izaya with a smirk.

“No way!” Shizuo agreed, “I’d love to pummel his ass into the sand!”

Izaya turned away and held a coy hand to his mouth. “Shizu-chan should wait until we’re alone before he starts saying such things. I have to utterly defeat him at volleyball first.”

“I’m gonna kill you.” Shizuo marched onto Erika and Walker’s side of the court. “Alright, what do I have to do? Throw this in Izaya’s face so it knocks him unconscious?”

“Shizu-chan, no!” cried Erika, but she had the most gleeful expression.

With an impressive jump serve from Erika, the game was underway. Unfortunately, while Shizuo can spike the ball hard enough to create a crater in the Earth, he has incredible difficulty hitting the ball at all. Most of the balls Walker tossed to Shizuo went unspiked, landing unceremoniously on their own side of the court. Shizuo would swat aimlessly at the air.

Izaya, though not a miracle player by any means, was dubiously excellent at setting. He worked excellently with Kadota, who played like a Jack of all trades. Watching them execute seamless plays together only fueled Shizuo’s fury, and he nearly obliterated Togusa when he managed to spike the ball in his direction.

Togusa didn’t even try to receive the ball. He just dived out of the way with a girlish scream. In Shizuo’s defense, he had been aiming for Kadota.

“What’s the winning point in a beach volleyball set again?” Izaya asked as he held the ball, oozing with sarcasm. “Twenty-one? And what are we at? Twenty? And you’re at, what? Ten points? Woooow who knew we’d get to set point so quickly!”

Kadota offered him a high-five, and Izaya, startled at first, slapped the hand enthusiastically.

Shizuo blew a gasket.

“Izaya and Dotachin hussled us!” Walker accused, and Erika booed behind him.

“It’s your own fault for picking Shizu-chan for your team,” said Izaya. “But it’s too late now! I plan on winning this whole match.”

And he did. Quickly, too. With Izaya’s instructions, they even got the best of Erika’s jump serve a few times. Shizuo immediately demanded a rematch, but the others were weary and Togusa feared for his life. They wanted to go into the water, but Shizuo wanted to take down Izaya. And Kadota. He wanted to take them all down.

Fortunately, after they had rested from playing in the waves, Shinra and Celty wanted to play as well. Technically, just Celty wanted to play, but Shinra would go along with whatever she wanted. The van gang went to the waves while the couples played two on two for a while, although Izaya argued that Shinra was so bad that he shouldn’t have counted as an actual player.

“Why do I have to play with Shinra?” Izaya grumbled. “These odds are heavily unfair and definitely _not_ in my favor.”

“I don’t want to play with you either,” Shinra pointed out. “When I agreed to play, I thought I’d be a team with Celty!”

“Celty and I just work best together,” Shizuo explained, giving Celty a fist bump as she nodded her severed neck.

Neither Izaya nor Shinra liked the sound of that.

“Alright,” Izaya got in serving position. “Evil Geniuses serving Big Damn Heroes, first point…!”

_Smack!_

Without Kadota on his team, Izaya did not succeed quite as well as he had before. Shinra was more likely to run away from the ball than Togusa. He even avoided passes from Izaya. They spent more time bickering than touching the ball. Then there was Shizuo and Celty, who worked expertly together. Shizuo’s aim didn’t magically improve, but Celty did her best to get him the ball, and he to her. Sometimes that meant bending the rules a little. At one point, someone had to shout “Celty! No mystical powers!” and she crossed her arms behind her back sheepishly, drawing ‘Sorry’ in the sand with her toe…

 

The match ended in Shizuo and Celty’s favor, and Shizuo felt his pride mend a little. Of course, he still would have preferred to beat Izaya and Kadota together, since Shinra’s participation probably would have made anyone fail.

“You’re still not wet,” Izaya said as they abandoned the volleyball net. Celty and Shinra had left on a private walk, much like Shizuo had wanted with Izaya.

“That’s not totally true,” said Shizuo. “I’m pretty sweaty.”

Izaya reached out and touched Shizuo’s pecs. They were indeed quite sweaty. “Yuck,” he said, but his leer and gropes around Shizuo’s torso were far from disgusted.

“Stop fondling me.” Shizuo swatted his hand away. “People can see.”

“I said I’d do the whole beach thing,” Izaya responded. “Let’s be the obnoxious, publicly affectionate couple.”

“Let’s not. We’d _murder_ Karisawa.”

Izaya snorted. “Serves her right. We aren’t her personal yaoi manga. Our hands are much too small.”

“What about you?” Shizuo changed the subject. “You are also… not wet.”

“I don’t particularly care to become wet, not in the literal sense,” said Izaya.

“Oh, that’s too bad...” Shizuo grinned wide enough that Izaya became suspicious.

Before Izaya could make a break for it, though, Shizuo caught hold of him and gung-ho’d towards the sea.

Shizuo wasn’t necessarily still bothered by the first volleyball match, but he was. A little. Plus, he just liked to throw Izaya into places. Harassing each other was one of their favorite pastimes, and Shizuo wanted to go swimming as much as he wanted to get revenge on Izaya. So that’s exactly what he did. He waded out until the water was up to his waist, and he dropped Izaya into the ocean.

No fake-outs this time. Izaya had barely enough time to hold his breath before plunging beneath the waves. To be fair, Shizuo followed suit, and it was _damn_ cold. His flesh turned numb in the brief time he spent below the surface. He and Izaya emerged at the same time, Izaya gasping for a lot more air. Shizuo didn’t earn any points back when he shook his shaggy hair like a doused golden retriever, spraying Izaya with water droplets. Glaring, Izaya clenched his fists in front of him, shivering dramatically.

Shizuo swam over to him, trying to suppress his amusement.

“Y-you j-j-j-jerk,” Izaya stuttered, his teeth chattering. “I h-h-hate y-you.” His hair flattened over his face, and he resembled an extremely irritable, wet feline.

Not buying those words at all, Shizuo cradled Izaya to him and rubbed his arms for friction. “This is the whole beach thing, isn’t it?”

Izaya then proceeded to try and drown Shizuo.

 

Hours passed while they were in the water. The group stayed there until the sun threatened to set on them. Out of the water, into the water, out of the water, into the water. Everyone had settled down by then, tuckered out by the day’s onslaught of activities. Finally, Shizuo had his chance to drag Izaya away from everyone, even if he was rather forceful.

And by forceful, that meant he actually flipped Izaya over his shoulder, told the others they’d be back later, and hauled Izaya away.

“Where are you taking me?” asked Izaya, once Shizuo had marched them to the other side of the cove.

“Elsewhere,” said Shizuo.

“Well that’s vague and disconcerting.” Izaya rested his chin in his hand, still a captive on Shizuo’s shoulder. “Is this when Shizu-chan finally kills me and sinks my body to the bottom of the ocean for the sharks to feed on?”

“Not yet.” Shizuo released Izaya to the ground and took his hand instead, leading him over rocks and tiny pools until they reached a smooth surface of sand, wedged between the walls of stone, and still had a view to the sunset. They settled into the soft sand that had grown chilly without the sun’s overhead presence to heat it. Naturally, Izaya also teased Shizuo for being sappy and bringing them to watch a _sunset_.

However, Shizuo could not have described the sunset that night, because he never looked at it. He watched Izaya instead, and he didn’t regret a moment. Izaya filled the silence with words Shizuo would later string together, topics that Izaya just felt were particularly fascinating at that particular time. He couldn’t just shut up and listen to the serene sounds of the waves coil against the shore. No, because then Izaya might have to think about how there was a vast sea of unknown entities laid out before them. Izaya was not one for the unknown.

“Good riddance,” Izaya scoffed as the sun dipped under the horizon. “Do you see what that thing did to me?” He held out his arm, which as an undoubtedly a violent shade of red. “This is your fault, too, you know.”

His arms weren’t the only places damaged. Everywhere that wasn’t covered by black hair or a bathing suit had fallen prey to the sun’s vicious rays. SPF fifteen had apparently not been sufficient enough protection for Izaya’s milky skin.

“Yikes,” said Shizuo. He took Izaya’s hand gently prodded the inflamed skin. The skin turned white where he pressed, until it returned to red when Shizuo released it.

Izaya winced. “Ow…”

“Hurts?”

Izaya nodded, and Shizuo looked at him thoughtfully.

Shizuo did not see the sunset that night, not directly. But he did see it in Izaya’s eyes, though, and in how the atmosphere turned violet against Izaya’s body. The sun’s orange grow bounced off the ocean’s surface and into Izaya’s brown eyes, where the light shimmered along with the sea’s reflection. All which was more worthwhile to see than a measly sunset.

Scooting closer to Izaya, Shizuo lifted Izaya’s knuckle and pressed it to his lips.

“How about here?” He felt Izaya shiver.

“Ow…” Izaya murmured, though his voice devoid of pain.

A devoted curl twisted in Shizuo’s lips as he kissed along Izaya’s arm, from his knuckles, to his elbow to his shoulder. Izaya feigned discomfort every time, forcing Shizuo to move further upwards.

“Here?” Shizuo kissed his neck.

“Ow…”

“Here?” Shizuo kissed one of his cheeks.

“Ow…”

“Here?” And the other.

“Mmm…”

At some point, Izaya’s eyes had drifted closed, and his face was tilted to give Shizuo full access to his features. Whether his blood had flown to his cheeks, or if the sunburn was responsible for the color, Shizuo could not say. His mouth lingered over the sharp cheekbones either way. Izaya hummed pleasantly when Shizuo’s lips drifted over Izaya’s delightfully cherry colored nose.

Shizuo’s hand found itself cupping Izaya’s face, holding it steady for Shizuo to explore. He could see the immense difference in their tones, now. In contrast, Shizuo’s skin had absorbed the sun like a rag, giving him a respectable tan. His dark skin popped against’s Izaya’s. Copper against charred ivory.

A strand of damp, salty fringe fell over too much of Izaya’s face for Shizuo’s liking, and Shizuo tenderly brushed it behind Izaya’s ear. Izaya leaned into Shizuo’s hand, and his eyes fluttered open, catching sight of Shizuo’s smirk.

“Is there any place that doesn’t burn?”

The light in Izaya’s eyes became a mischievous glint. He tentatively reached up and touched his lips with just a single, dainty finger.

Shizuo didn’t need to be asked twice.

Leaning forward, abolishing any space left between them, Shizuo captured Izaya’s mouth hungrily. Izaya responded just as eagerly, wrapping himself around Shizuo and shifting his hips. Careful of Izaya’s wounded skin, Shizuo gently lay him back against the sand, continuing to kiss him from above. If the sunburn was a bother, Izaya didn’t stop to say so. And it was just as well. They only had so much time to spare before someone came across them, searching to drag the couple back to the city.

That wouldn’t matter, though. Even if there was no beach, no cove, no waves or no sunset… they would find their own form of paradise in each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! ( ♥ ε ♥ )


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